Take a breather

I haven't had half a second lately to reflect on any of the things going on around here. Haven't taken many photos, either. I feel like we've been going through some real milestones and I'm afraid this period of my life my be lost from record indefinitely if I don't put things on the blog, however haphazardly...

Matthew's first haircut...whoosh!

All four of the guys got haircuts the same day.

Love these boy-o's.

The first few minutes of his new 'do felt like I was finally seeing the child I had envisioned since the beginning. It finally fit. But every once in a while I would forget that we had cut his hair and suddenly see a perfect stranger in my house toddling around. No more shaggy locks. All business.

Primary Program in church...whoosh!

Robert actually spoke his part into the microphone. What courage! After their dress rehearsal the week before, Robert told me that he spoke his whole part to the empty chapel even though he was feeling shy in front of so many people he didn't know (meaning the kids and Primary teachers behind him). I wondered if he would pull it through on the actual day with 50+ more people staring right at him from the pews. He did it! And he was proud of himself for doing it!

Alice's sewing party...whoosh!

I taught Alice how to hand sew a simple pillow. Since she's always looking for a reason to gather friends around her, she suggested throwing a sewing party where she could teach all her friends the same thing...with finger sandwiches and a treat (*batting her eyes at me*). Well, I liked this party idea better than the last half dozen, so I finally consented. We invited 5 of her closest best friends and every single one accepted. Even the one currently living an hour and a half away. Erk. It was one loud girlfest, and they actually did some sewing. I eavesdropped on their chit chat, which was more like a series of loud interruptions, until the sewing broke down and the girls got into the dress up box. By the end of the party, they had used bricks and 2x4s and small sheets of fabric in the backyard to frame out a simple house for their imaginary play.

James also had his third birthday, but I don't want to post about that until I've figured out how to get the photos from Bobby's phone :(

And I discovered our shower is leaking into the crawlspace :( The plumber came out today and said the source of the water wasn't obvious. He's coming back in a couple days with a partner to do more sleuthing. Deep down inside, I'm hoping they also discover the source of that horrible moldy smell coming from the bathroom :)

And I broke, and then fixed, and then broke again, and then made-do with the power button on the clothes dryer. I felt super handy, then totally dumb, then just plain okay with things.

The blackberry trellis is just about done. I ended up strapping the 16-foot fence panels to the top of our van like so:

The tail end is being pulled down by a string that is looped under the car. It was a pretty snug fit. The front part flapped a little crazy if I went over 30 mph, so I stuck to the residential streets and school zones on my way home :) I spent a couple hours this morning installing the first panel on the posts, then tying half of the raspberry canes to it. I like it. I love it, actually, even if the plants look a little roughed up from all the messing around, and even if Matthew ended up playing in (and eating) a little too much dirt/mulch today. James found plenty of sticks to turn into swords, then tools to turn into toys, and a fence to turn into a jungle gym. For three minutes, the boys even played peek-a-boo through the fence. Priceless. Still more work to do before posting a photo up here.